The contemporary dance company practices one of their routines for the upcoming show. photo by Noelle Westfall

Choreography, music and glitter. The Cabrini Contemporary Dance Company brings these things together to create their dazzling routines and performances.

The hard work and dedication of the members of this dance group began two years ago as Alyssa Frieze and Renee Banson, artistic director, decided to give Cabrini the taste of a different type of dance organization.

Two years ago, Frieze, a senior business administration major, remembers thinking, “We do have a team that dances for the basketball team, but I’d really like to dance for an audience. Something with costumes and glitter and makeup, so we got together.”

Now Frieze is the student choreographer and manager of The Cabrini Contemporary Dance Company, originally called The Cabrini Dance Ensemble.

The Dance Company promotes itself around campus at events like Accepted Student Day and also with flyers. Meeting each week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 5 p.m., the group tries to work around students’ availability. There is a $50 fee to start up with the dance company.

“I’m really happy they have it because without this I wouldn’t be able to dance as much as I use to do” Corinne Piotrowski, freshman elementary education major and company member, said. “I’m used to competing, traveling, going to competitions and my parents are really happy to come and be able to watch me again. It’s really exciting to be able to dance on a stage for my parents again.”

“It’s a lot of fun,” Melissa Phillips, sophomore business administration major, said. “It’s difficult because we don’t have a lot of people, but it works really well. Everyone gets along really well. We do modern, ballet, lyrical, jazz and basically all different kinds.”

Throughout the past two years of dancing and making a name for themselves around campus, the Cabrini Contemporary Dance Company has strived to bring students of all different dancing styles and levels together.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth. I’m very, very impressed with the girls especially since some have only had a few years experience, so they really work very hard and they’ve done a lot,” Banson said.

“We’ve also expanded to doing a lot of different types of genres, so they’re really stretching themselves in a lot of directions. I would like to have some more members to the Company and I’d like us to be able to have more time, so I can really help the girls develop their technique. I’d really like to get off campus so we can get out into the community.”

The Cabrini Contemporary Dance Company will be putting on an hour-and-a-half show featuring many acts, including an Indian dance company. Many of the members of the Company are especially excited for the modern lyrical trio routine, “Steer,” to be performed. The show will be on April 24 at Norristown Arts Hill during an all-day festival and on April 25 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Cabrini College Theatre.

“One of our mission statements is really the diversity of the dance company,” Banson said. “We want as many different things as we can, so if anyone has something that’s unusual or a cultural dance that we don’t normally do, we welcome that.”

Students with questions about The Cabrini Contemporary Dance Company can contact Renee Banson at rbanson@cabrini.edu.

Cabrini College’s second annual Accepted Student Day offered prospective students and their families the opportunity to delve into what can be gained from a Cabrini experience. From 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. on April 11, faculty, staff and current students spoke with prospective students and their families about the different majors and opportunities for involvement available on Cabrini’s campus.

Kate Keglovits, an admissions counselor, helped to plan the day’s events. Keglovits describes Accepted Student Day as “a day to make or break a decision for students.”

Many students who attended Accepted Student Day had already made the decision to attend Cabrini College and were anxious to learn more about the activities related to their upcoming major on campus.

“A lot of colleges don’t offer things like this,” Kevin Durso, prospective freshman communication major, said about the events. Durso and his family were impressed by the hands-on experience Cabrini offers new students in the communication department. “I’ve always liked to write and do journalism,” Durso said.

“I’ve toured a couple around, but I like this school the best,” Stephanie Toomey, prospective undecided major, said. “I like how it’s small and the kind of campus it is.”

The day began with mass at Bruckmann Memorial Chapel, followed by a registration period with opening remarks from Cabrini’s president, Dr. Marie Angelella George. Students and families were then invited to take part in a question and answer panel of students, alumni and parents. Finally, prospective students and families visited different departments and clubs on campus to research what would best suit each student.

“Every time we’re up here it feels like a cult,” Sean McLaughlin, father of a prospective exercise science major, said. “I keep saying everybody’s too friendly, it makes you feel really comfortable here and everybody’s been great. From the first time we came here we learned a lot and we already know where things are. Today definitely helped a lot with all of the different clubs offered around.”

“For us it’s close to home, so that was one of the deciding factors,” Kim McLaughlin, mother, said. “It’s small enough that when we come back again we see the same people, so you’re almost getting comfortable with it. The question and answer session was good for the parents.”

The process of planning Accepted Student Day began by choosing the date to hold the event, followed by a meeting in November of last year.

“A lot of [planning] doesn’t happen until a month beforehand,” Keglovits said.  “The day is about being here for families and pointing them in the right directions. You have to coordinate everything with facilities, dining services, etc. A big piece is the commitment from the campus community, all of the clubs and departments. The fact that everyone is on board makes a big difference.”

For next year’s Accepted Student Day, Keglovits hopes there will be a little more leeway in the day’s schedule for students and families to get from event to event. “[Students] can design the day for themselves.”

Eion O'Neil/Photography Staff

The Cabrini College honors program gives select students the opportunity to benefit from a range of challenging classes and special off-campus events. Co-directors of the honors program, Dr. Leonard Primiano and Dr. Paul Wright, have been making the honors program a source of achievement and enjoyment for Cabrini students for many years.

“The honors courses are typically different from regular courses because they involved more in-depth material at a faster pace,” Keri Bensley, freshman biology major, said. “The workload is more and usually more difficult, but what advanced course isn’t that way? The professors still offer extra help to those who struggle to keep up or to understand the material.”

Others have said differences between honors courses and regular courses are that the honors have a more specific focus than other classes and have greater emphasis on class discussion and writing.

“I think honors courses are a way for a more intellectually gifted student to feel more challenged by the work,” Elena Brown, junior psychology major, said.

There are a variety of honors-level courses to challenge students’ minds and ideas. A few of these include Honors Sects and Cults in American Society, Honors Baseball and the American Tradition, Honors Existentialism and Honors Engagement in the Common Good (ECG).

Even if there is an opportunity to take a course that is honors, but not in one’s major, it can be a good experience to try something new.

“I think the honors classes have been interesting even though they’re outside of my major,” Joe Cahill, junior communication major, said. “It gives me a new perspective for new areas of study. Most of my good friends from Cabrini grew out of the honors program.”

The honors programs are not all pencil and paper work. Trips are offered throughout the semester to students who are enrolled in the honors program to give them a taste of culture and history outside of Cabrini’s campus.

“We were invited to Woodmont, the living quarters of followers of Father Divine. We were also given a tour of a Masonic Temple in Philadelphia and given free tickets to the Curtis Symphony Orchestra,” Bensley said. “An assignment usually preceded each event, but it was definitely worth it.”

“My sophomore year there was a concert at the Kimmel Center and a dinner for the senior members hosted by Dr. Primiano,” Joe Kimpflen, senior history and political science major, said. “There are periodic concerts in Philadelphia, field trips organized by the teachers and dinners for the students in the program hosted by the college.”

With a long list of things to keep track of at the beginning of a school career, honors courses should be thought of not only as something challenging for the present, but something to carry into the future as well.

“The main benefit to honors courses is the fact that a student will graduate with honors at the end of their college career,” Kimpflen said. “I have learned more than I would have otherwise about the specifics behind causation of terrorist actions, gotten to study the specifics of the past and present of baseball, learned about the doctrines and beliefs of multiple obscure sects of religions, as an example of a few subjects.”

As students move on from high school to the college world, the honors programs give the opportunity to grow in oneself and feel the pride of accomplishment.

“A benefit to the honors courses is not only the professors, but the way they treat you,” Bensley said. “In regular courses I often find that I’m being spoken to as if I’m still in high school. The honors courses give the student more responsibility, and the instructors treat you as adults.”

The Dixon Center brought about 230 participants of the Relay for Life cancer walk to benefit The American Cancer Society.

Young and old, students and community members, the common thread was the force cancer had on their lives and the impact these walkers wanted to have on cancer.

“Cancer affects everyone. People want to see progress made towards research and have it eliminated from our community,” Katie Keller, sophomore accounting major and co-chair of Cabrini’s Relay for Life, said.

The walk, which began at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 20, and went until 9 a.m. on Sunday, March 21, was a huge success. The goal of funds to be raised was $20,000 and, at 6 p.m., the event had already met the $16,000 mark. At the conclusion of the event, the total money raised totaled $21,800, surpassing the goal.

In addition to the two co-chairs of the event, Danielle DiBartolo and Katie Keller, Relay had 13 committee members to help plan the function. There were also 28 teams that participated in Relay for Life including Cabrini Cheerleading, CAP Board, Delta Phi Xi, Geek Squad, Team Appalachia and Valley Forge Trojans.

“It’s nice for CAP Board to show support for local causes like this,” Emily Fiore, sophomore secondary education and English major, said. Fiore has also walked to benefit AIDS awareness and breast cancer, of which her aunt is in remission.

Tara Evison, senior psychology major, told her mother, who is currently fighting breast cancer, about the event. “I want her to see there are people who care,” Evison said.

“Sometimes you feel like you’re an outcast, so it’s important to come to events like this because you don’t feel like such an outsider,” Cindy Evison, Tara’s mother, said. Evison stopped smoking two years ago. “You almost have to change your life in order to quit. Evison is proud that her daughter has quit smoking to show her support.

Communities and colleges host Relay for Life walks all over the country to benefit The American Cancer Society. Representatives from the Society are present during the event to oversee the happenings and further the Society’s mission.

“[My job] is to raise awareness of cancer issues and funding and towards what ACS provides,” Kelly Bradford, cancer control specialist with The American Cancer Society, said. “I think it’s a great turn out for a first time college event.”

Mallory Beach, sophomore elementary education major and head of the Cabrini Dance Team, helped organize the silent auction that included items like makeup and hair gift baskets, gas gift cards and home items. According to Beach, the dance team did not need to put out any money to receive these items, local businesses were happy to donate.

In addition to the silent auction, other events were hosted throughout the day and into the final morning hours such as a concert by local band Pigs in Flight, a scavenger hunt and hula hoop contest. One of the most memorable moments at any Relay for Life was the lighting and placement of luminaries, bags with candles inside, to commemorate those who lost their lives to cancer.

“The event went above and beyond all of my expectations,” Danielle DiBartolo, sophomore social work, sociology and psychology major and co-chair, said. ”We have been working since August to plan the event. We have met for hours and been in contact with people all across campus to help get support, logistics, and permission. We are definitely doing Relay again next year. We cannot wait! It was a lot of work but worth every minute of it.”

photos by Matt McGuirman/ Loquitur staff photographer

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The deadline for fall college applications is quickly approaching, making many students nervous about what their four years will hold. Along with entrance essays, financial aid papers and class registration, there is one more thing many prospective Cabrini students have on their mind: roommates.

Many say having a roommate is part of the essential college experience, because one learns how to adapt to people outside of their family and becomes more aware of different living styles. No matter what college campus you go to, there are bound to be stories of roommates who have been less than spectacular and quite often just plain rotten.

“For some extra money [my roommate] decided to take up prostitution from our dorm room,” Rachael Ryan, 2003 Moravian College graduate, said. “There was one time when I came back to our dorm room and there was a random middle-aged guy there passed out on the floor. That was one instance. All the time there were random guys coming and going.” Ryan was a freshman at the time.

“At one time I had a roommate that would wear my clothes, use my nail polishes, blow dry her hair while I was sleeping and break my dishware all while trying to get me to get kicked out of housing,” Jessie Holeva, 2009 Cabrini graduate, said. “Living together will either bring you closer or tear you apart. In this case I learned that people are not always what they seem.”

Learning to live with people, despite one’s differences, is another key factor in sharing a room while away at school. Roommates might not always respect one’s space, privacy and personal commitments.

“My roommate last year ordered Dominos like twice a day,” Mary Jacobs, sophomore communication major, said. “Now the room permanently smells like buffalo wings.” For Jacobs, a vegetarian, this was not the most pleasant living arrangement.

Living with a roommate prompts one to find ways to compose themselves with more tolerance in a way they normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to just seeing each other in classes. This is a trying period for students and, while some are willing to put up with their roommate’s idiosyncrasies, others prefer to get assistance from campus authorities.

“If a student is having roommate problems, they will speak to their residential assistant first, who will attempt to help the roommates solve their problems through mediation,” Laura Shapella, assistant director of housing operations at Cabrini, said. “If that does not work, they can have a mediation with their area coordinator. If problems still persist, the area coordinator may approve a room change.”

Sometimes help isn’t so quickly available and the student is forced to deal with their issues longer than expected. This is not the ideal situation, but with campus housing becoming more demanding there are often not enough people around to help out a distressed roomie.

“The other time it was midterms, I was sick and in between tests one day, I came back to the dorm to lie down until my next exam,” Ryan said. “I thought she was working on her paper, but I woke up practically eye-level to her and her boyfriend going at it. I pulled the covers over my head and kept thinking, ‘I do not want to see this!’ I was feeling nauseous before and that really pushed me over the edge so I just walked out of the room to the bathroom. So another girl walks in the bathroom and says ‘You know your roommate is going at it with the door wide open?’ Of course the R.A. wasn’t there.”

For freshman students at Cabrini the roommate process begins when they fill out a questionnaire answering personal questions to find a good roommate match. These questions include: what time the student goes to sleep, how they feel about having guests in the room and several other issues. There is also an option for students to participate in the Living and Learning Communities, so students are able to live near the same students for a year and take the same classes together. Upperclassmen are able to choose whom they would like to room with for the upcoming year.

“For the majority of sophomore year, I shared a four-person room with one excellent roomie- very courteous, fun loving and quite often naked,” Holeva said. “Yes, I had the ‘naked roommate.’ I’d walk in and she’d be sitting around eating cereal in the buff. She’s so easygoing that I doubt she’ll be fazed by me saying this.”

“Most students come to college eager to try and get along with their roommate and with a few exceptions here and there, they do,” Shapella said. “Our staff can help them learn to communicate better with their roommate, making for a more pleasant living experience.”

It’s important to weigh all the risks and benefits involved in a roommate situation. With a roommate there are more potential headaches, but less financial burden. Living alone is pricier, but can give much needed solitude. It all depends on what kinds of stress a person can take. A bad living situation can change one’s college experience for the worse, but there are benefits to a tough dorm assignment as well.

“It teaches you a lot about people and helps you grow up,” Holeva said. “I think to gain the full college experience you need to be submerged in the lifestyle and being cramped with another person in a small living space is part of the rite of passage.”

Cheaters, beaters and bottom feeders are people most little girls have been told to stay away from for their whole lives. Unfortunately, when girls grow up they are often put through kissing the princes who turn into frogs. As a girl who has been cheated on, I’m very passionate about letting others know that even if they’re put in the terrible situation they can still come out on top.

The thing I’ve seen happen most often when a person is cheated on by their beloved is they take it personally. This is the first mistake. Your lover is the one being inconsiderate and disrespectful by cheating; so don’t let it bring you down. If there were something wrong with you it should be handled in a healthy way with a discussion. If the discussion about relationship problems doesn’t happen then you’re not in the know and, therefore, not at fault.

It’s a shame Elin Nordegren, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Gosselin have to see their men on the front page of People next to other women. Students have their own version of the People front page too. We’ve certainly all gotten that sick feeling when we see our ex smiling next to someone else in their profile picture. When this happens you’ve got to remember that it’s just an opportunity for you to make a hot picture, whether by yourself, with friends or with someone new.

I once heard Judge Lynn Toler say on “Divorce Court,” “The best revenge is moving on and being happy.”

To me this quote means you’re not letting someone’s insensitivity to your feelings get to you. While they have their reputation as a cheater you’re building your reputation as someone who is strong enough to not let challenges break them. Be a “survivor,” not a “victim.”

Betrayal is what I define as the worst part of being cheated on. Here you are, sharing your life with someone and you discover they had a whole separate life on the side they never told you about. It’s a feeling like no other when you find out, like being knocked down a flight of stairs and then pushed down again when you try to stand up.

I’ve never believed the world is full of either bad or good people. To me there are people who make bad choices and they are divided into two groups: those who own up to the choices and those who do not. The majority of cheaters I’ve known don’t own up to their cheating until they get caught. This is not “telling the truth,” this getting caught with your (fill in the blank) in the cookie jar.

I’m very thankful to say that my self-esteem was never affected even though I had a particularly unpleasant cheating experience. I know this isn’t true for most people however and that needs to stop immediately. When a person cheats they’re not going for someone of a higher moral character and standards. If they were then there wouldn’t be any cheating involved, the relationship would have ended honestly.

The most important thing to realize is that there is nothing you can do to stop someone who is a cheater. No amount of makeup, working out, changing your interests or spending more or less time together is going to change the fact that there unfortunately are people who will betray your trust. Don’t let it get to you. Just keep moving on with your life and reaching for the stars in everything you do. They are the ones who have to live with being a backstabber, not you.

Lauren Sliva

Every semester some students dread the cost of their new textbooks. With books costing up to $1,050 a year, several professors at Cabrini decided to find another way for students to gain the knowledge they need from a book without the hefty price tag.

Using Flat World Knowledge online books, Dr. Eric Malm and Dr. Lisa Delgado, assistant professors of business administration, have helped students save their money and not sacrifice the course book. Their textbooks cost nothing on-line, although students can choose to also purchase a print copy of the book for around $25. This way the students are able to find which learning method works best for them.

“Last spring I was thinking of how I wanted to offer a lower-cost textbook solution,” Malm said. “Economics never changes, examples change, but supply and demand are always the same. It’s frustrating to me that a textbook company wants $120 or $150 for a microeconomics book. I very randomly got an e-mail from Flat World Knowledge. It was advertising a new economics book that was written by my favorite economics professor as an undergraduate.”

Malm presented the book to his colleagues and together they decided to use the new Flat World Knowledge book for this past fall semester.

Jeff Shelstad and Eric Frank started Flat World Knowledge in 2007. These two men previously worked with traditional textbook publishers including Prentice Hall and felt the call of an untapped market of instructors, students and authors who were dissatisfied with the current textbook industry.

In January 2009, Flat World Knowledge offered 30 courses, with 1,000 students using their online books. In September 2009 they jumped to about 480 courses throughout the country and 40,000 students.

“I really feel lucky to do what I do,” Eric Frank, co-founder of Flat World Knowledge, said. “And its because it’s really been a challenge in a good way; a challenging problem to build a new model for an industry. Students, instructors and faculty are going to get a much better value. It’s cool to be in a business where we’re not just selling one little feature; we’re solving really significant problems.”

The books offer a large amount of personalization to the professors because they are able to select the online content of the book to reflect what is being covered in class. For example, the professor can rearrange a section from the back of the book that they want to cover early in the semester. This way the instructors are able to tailor their books for every class.

In light of the textbooks being changeable and not copyrighted through the school, the only argument against their usage is that they are similar to other online information sources. However, because the professors are the only ones who have access to change their books, they are the only ones who are able to maneuver the content after its rigorous editing process from the books’ developers. This makes their content very accurate.

“I start the first class bringing up how they can read online,” Delgado said about introducing the online books to her students. “They just have to register online, they don’t have to pay for anything. I tell them they don’t need to bring the book for class, so if we need to do something in the book I just bring it up online on the whiteboard.”

Cabrini isn’t the only institution across the country using Flat World Knowledge and other unconventional textbook sources. In implementing these inexpensive book alternatives, professors can now walk into their classes correctly assuming everyone has the book, even if they don’t bring it to class. Because of this advance, learning is just a mouse click away.

“I think education socially is such a critical need and when somebody gets access to higher education there are so many documented benefits,” Frank said. “In my research I’ve found textbooks are the number two financial barrier in the system and it’s so solvable.”

Flat World Knowledge’s Web site, www.flatworldknowledge.com, also offers a campus promo kit for students to spread the word about their free book alternatives throughout their campus in hopes of saving other students a few more dollars next semester.

“I love the idea of a cheaper textbook and the fact that it’s the same quality of a regular hard textbook,” Delgado said. “When I was going to school Blackboard and all of those things were very new. I love having all of this technology.”

Shannon Keough

Cabrini College’s Campus Ministry opens up a wide variety of opportunities for students to grow in their relationships with themselves, others and God. Through service opportunities, retreats and immersion experiences, Campus Ministry’s mission has impacted many Cabrini students.

“We do a lot,” Christa Angeloni, campus minister, said. “Throughout the school year is definitely when most of the programming is happening, but winter break we have the immersion trip to Ecuador, ‘Rostro de Cristo,’ which translates to ‘Face of Christ.’ The Appalachia immersion experience is over spring break. There is a trip to New York this spring break also.”

Campus Ministry’s New York trip goes into the city and follows the footsteps of Mother Cabrini. Students visit the two different locations where there are immigrant services, nursing and rehabilitation centers. When students go on this trip, Angeloni explained, they can get to know all about the Cabrini mission. Students can also stay in the convent with the sisters and get to know them by asking them questions about all the work they do.

There is also plenty of time to travel to sites in the “Big Apple” like Rockefeller Center and Times Square.

While all of their retreats are popular, the one in highest demand is the SEARCH retreat, involving about 30 people. This retreat is three days off campus and focuses on three different relationships: your relationship with yourself, with other people and with God.

Kristie Bergin, senior social work major and religious studies minor, has been involved in leading retreats for campus ministry as well as participating in them since freshman year.

“I really enjoyed being on SEARCH and I think everyone should go on it,” Bergin said. “It’s really taught me what it means to be a young Catholic adult in our church today and it’s deepened my relationship with God and I’m very grateful for it. I think everyone should come out to the Campus Ministry things. Even if they’re not super religious, that’s okay, I think everybody will feel comfortable.”

The experience in Ecuador is very different from SEARCH and the one in New York. Students immerse themselves in the life of a typical Ecuadorean. Students live together in a house and share the responsibilities of cooking and cleaning as well as learning from the people they meet.

They travel to area foundations such as hospitals and after-school programs to learn about governmental and economic issues the country faces. Most importantly they get to speak to the people of Ecuador and get to know them on a personal level.

Another fascinating type of retreat opportunity Campus Ministry offers is Project Appalachia, which takes students to the poverty-stricken region of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia.

“I got involved with Project Appalachia through one of the days I was wandering past the Wolfington Center and Christa says, ‘Joe! I never see you at any of the retreats, why is that? What are you doing over spring break?’” Joe Kimpflen, senior history and political science major, said. “So I ended up going to Appalachia. The biggest impact that Appalachia had on my life is that it basically changed the focus of my studies and my major. I’m going to be focused on social service.”

The impact the experience in Appalachia has led Kimpflen to be the leader of the project this year.

Cabrini’s connection to social justice is a large part of what Campus Ministry encompasses through its focus on working alongside people of all cultures to expand students’ knowledge of the world around them.

“(Social justice) asks all of those difficult questions about what rights should these people have that they aren’t able to easily access,” Angeloni said, “But then it also ties into our faith. We believe these people are equal, but we’re born with so many more luxuries than they are. It asks a lot of challenging questions, but I think it makes us reflect on our faith and the human right to dignity.”

Students with questions about Cabrini’s Campus Ministry opportunities can e-mail Christa Angeloni at christa.m.angeloni@cabrini.edu. Check out Campus Ministry’s homepage with a list of services and events at cabrini.edu.

Every semester some students dread the cost of their new textbooks. With books costing up to $1,050 a year, several professors at Cabrini decided to find another way for students to gain the knowledge they need from a book without the hefty price tag.

Using Flat World Knowledge online books Dr. Eric Malm and Dr. Lisa Delgado, assistant professors of business administration, have helped students save their money and not sacrifice the course book. Their textbooks cost nothing online, although students can choose to also purchase a print copy of the book for around $25. This way the students are able to find which learning method works best for them.

“Last spring I was thinking of how I wanted to offer a lower-cost textbook solution,” Malm said. “Economics never changes, examples change, but supply and demand are always the same. It’s frustrating to me that a textbook company wants $120 or $150 for a microeconomics book. I very randomly got an e-mail from Flat World Knowledge. It was advertising a new economics book that was written by my favorite economics professor as an undergraduate.”

Malm presented the book to his colleagues and together they decided to use the new Flat World Knowledge book for this past fall semester.

Jeff Shelstad and Eric Frank started Flat World Knowledge in 2007. These two men previously worked with traditional textbook publishers including Prentice Hall. They felt the call of an untapped market of instructors, students and authors who were dissatisfied with the current textbook industry.

In January 2009 Flat World Knowledge offered 30 courses, with 1,000 students using their online books. In September 2009 they jumped to about 480 courses throughout the country and 40,000 students.

“I really feel lucky to do what I do,” Eric Frank, co-founder of Flat World Knowledge, said. “And it’s because it’s really been a challenge in a good way; a challenging problem to build a new model for an industry. Students, instructors and faculty are going to get a much better value. It’s cool to be in a business where we’re not just selling one little feature; we’re solving really significant problems.”

The books offer a large amount of personalization to the professors because they are able to select the online content of the book to reflect what is being covered in class. For example, the professor can rearrange a section from the back of the book that they want to cover early in the semester. This way the instructors are able to tailor their books for every class.

In light of the textbooks being changeable and not copyrighted through the school, the only argument against their usage is that they are similar to other online information sources. However, because the professors are the only ones who have access to change their books, they are the only ones who are able to maneuver the content after it’s rigorous editing process from the books’ developers. This makes their content very accurate.

“I start the first class bringing up how they can read online,” Delgado said about introducing the online books to her students. “They just have to register online, they don’t have to pay for anything. I tell them they don’t need to bring the book for class, so if we need to do something in the book I just bring it up online on the whiteboard.”

Cabrini College isn’t the only institution across the country using Flat World Knowledge and other unconventional textbook sources. In implementing these inexpensive book alternatives, professors can now walk into their classes correctly assuming everyone has the book, even if they don’t bring it to class. Because of this advance, learning is just a mouse click away.

“I think education socially is such a critical need and when somebody gets access to higher education there are so many documented benefits,” Frank said. “In my research I’ve found textbooks are the number two financial barrier in the system and it’s so solvable.”

Flat World Knowledge’s Web site, www.flatworldknowledge.com, also offers a campus promo kit for students to spread the word about their free book alternatives throughout their campus in hopes of saving other students a few more dollars next semester.

“I love the idea of a cheaper textbook and the fact that it’s the same quality of a regular hard textbook,” Delgado said. “When I was going to school Blackboard and all of those things were very new. I love having all of this technology.”

Maintaining a healthy immune system is more important than ever while at school. There are many ways to keep oneself free from sniffles and sore throats and most don’t require a shot or pill. Proper nutrition everyday is key for keeping in tip-top shape as well as getting enough sleep every night.

“I think it’s really important that everyone gets a lot of sleep,” Mary Jo Rose, associate health nurse at Cabrini College, said. “Drinking a lot of fluids, taking a daily vitamin and exercising always help. It’s easy not to exercise this time of year because it’s cold out, but get out and make yourself take a 30-minute walk every day.”

Vitamin C is extremely important in boosting an immune system, so be sure to stock up on oranges, grapefruits, guava and kiwis.

“If you’re eating five to six fruits a day then you don’t need to take a vitamin C supplement,” Julie Detwiler, a registered nurse, said, “but if you’re only eating one per day then take 250 milligrams a day of vitamin C.”

To fight off cancer and heart disease, antioxidant-rich tomatoes, broccoli and garlic are musts for staying healthy. This doesn’t mean you need to eat a clove or garlic raw, but putting some fresh bits into pasta or a salad are enough to give your body an extra kick where it counts.

“Try to get the fruits and vegetables in your body by having a fruit at breakfast and a fruit and vegetable at lunch and dinner,” Rose said. “A big, healthy salad every day is helpful to eat before the rest of your meal.”

All of the berries, such as cranberries and blueberries, are very rich in antioxidants. Red wine and dark chocolate are also strong sources of antioxidants, so be sure to ask your sweetie for a box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day.

Besides eating the right foods, there are lots of natural products to help ward off getting sick. Emergen-C is a powder that has 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C plus additional vitamins to aid the immune system. Green tea is a great source of antioxidants as well as a way to naturally unwind.

Another holistic way to keep germs at bay is to use a saline nasal spray daily. Additionally it is always important to keep hands clean with a pocket hand sanitizer and to not touch the eyes, mouth or nose unless hands are disinfected.

If you do get sick, make sure to stay home for at least 24 hours so the virus doesn’t spread. In that time it is very important to get lots of sleep, stock up on vitamins and stay hydrated. To drink the proper amount of water every day, divide your weight in half and add “ounces” after that. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds, you should be drinking 70 ounces of water daily.

Following these tips to keep your body healthy will help to ensure a semester free of sneezes and sore throats. For more helpful information, stop by Cabrini’s Health Services, located in room 89 of Founder’s Hall.

For many families in the Delaware Valley, the holidays are a harsh reminder that there is not enough food on the table for everyone. While some Philadelphia families are gathered around a bountiful feast, 25 percent of the city is struggling below the poverty line.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture report, released Monday, Nov. 9, shows that food insecurity is at a 14 year high. There is an organization working to change all that, called Philabundance.

Philabundance provides food to roughly 65,000 people per week who are at risk of hunger and malnutrition. Children make up 23 percent of their recipients and senior citizens make up 16 percent. The organization was founded as a non-profit food distribution system in 1984 and has quickly become the region’s largest non-profit hunger relief organization. In the year 2008 alone, they distributed 17 million pounds of food to the Delaware Valley through their Food Acquisition team to agencies such as food cupboards and shelters.

“There is no typical day,” Martha M. Buccino, senior vice president and chief development officer, said. “I oversee development, marketing, public relations, volunteers and events. My days are always filled with activities scheduled and those that are not scheduled. I am usually in the office from about 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. or 7 p.m.”

One unique opportunity that Philabundance offers is “The Philabundance Community Kitchen.” This program is an adult culinary arts vocational training program that supplies meals to agencies and emergency kitchens that help those who are in need.

We don’t wear pajamas all day. We have among the highest test scores in the country. We have social lives. If you’re ready to have your stereotypes shattered, then read on, because I am a proud home-schooled graduate.

Many negative stereotypes persist about the home-school image and that greatly irritates me. This image is both mass produced and inaccurate. I can just as easily say all public school students are stoners who get a “D” average in school. I won’t say that, because I know how ignorant it is to assume one person consumes an entire group of people.

Everyone to whom I’ve told I was home-schooled from kindergarten through grade 12 cannot believe it. “You’re so normal!” most say. I like to think I am, but I also want to explain what a home-schooler is so the rest of this negative image can be dispelled. I have met some odd ones for sure, but we’re not all jean skirt and sneaker wearers who think Harry Potter is evil.

My parents decided to home-school me because they were already home-schooling my older sister due to the fact she was not enjoying the private school she attended. We both took to home-schooling so much my parents stuck with it until we both graduated from high school.

Home-schooling is exactly what it sounds like: school at home. Parents choose the curriculum, which has to be approved by their school district, and teach their children 180 day’s worth of lessons. After that, a portfolio of every subject the student has learned during that year is submitted to the school district for review. In addition, a state-certified teacher interviews the student to make sure all Pennsylvania school standards are being upheld. Home-school students are also required to take standardized tests.

Both my sister and I moved more quickly with our work than the public school kids and so we were able to skip grades. I would not have been able to do that so easily in the traditional school system. My high school graduation ceremony was with several hundred other home-schooled kids at the Rotunda in Harrisburg. I wore a cap and gown and received a state-accredited diploma- just like a public school student.

I sometimes did envy the kids I knew who went to school dances, had lockers and took the bus. My parents drove me all the way to Pittsburgh to go to an official home-school prom my junior year (yes, we danced to mainstream music!) and to Chester Springs for my senior prom.

I kept myself involved with plenty of extracurricular activities too. I took three different types of dance classes, volunteered at my church, was part of the teen advisory board at my local library and played on a home-school baseball team. No one can say I didn’t have a social life!

I loved being home-schooled and would never trade it for a traditional school system. It certainly isn’t for everyone, but I enjoyed the personalization it gave me in my work. For example, my mom was able to pick from a huge array of science curricula and one year we studied the chemicals that make up different spices and made potpourri bags. I don’t know any public school student who has that much choice in their classroom.

When I talked to people about my home-school experience I hope they begin to see that it is not so different from the traditional school system. We have the same priorities and goals, but just take a different route to get there. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing I got the education that worked best for me and grew as a person while I achieved it.

Shannon Keough

Every Wednesday there are hot Philly news stories and wild Hollywood happenings flying through Cabrini’s airwaves. I have the awesome opportunity to co-host the show that features it all, the variety news show “We Need to Talk” on 89.1 WYBF-FM “The Burn.”

Cabrini College’s communication department has rocked my socks off ever since I transferred last fall. Not only are there many different options to expand your communication repertoire, but you can create ideas to keep growing in your field. That’s exactly what happened when Danielle Alio, Arielle Friscia, Rob Stoop and I began broadcasting this show on the radio.

“We Need to Talk” began last year as an entertainment video Web show originally featuring Danielle and several others, but was changed to a radio show this fall and given a new spin. The news we cover follows two sections, “Whaddup in Philly,” where Arielle and Rob give the scoop on the city, and entertainment news with the “Hollywood Hotties,” the segment starring Danielle and me.

In “We Need to Talk,” Danielle, Arielle, Rob and I keep the topics fascinating and fun. We feel it is important to have light-hearted issues discussed, but probing, serious issues as well. In recent weeks, we’ve discussed topics including the top five fall things to do in Philadelphia, Leona Lewis getting punched in the face, drinking on college campuses and of course a dash of Michael Jackson for good measure.

Being a co-host is a great opportunity for me to broaden my horizons in the communication field. It also gives me a strong feeling of accomplishment to research the stories and present them to an audience who is tuning in just for us. WYBF gives the chance for all students to personalize the radio shows they host through the classes they take. When a student has enough experience, the sky is the limit for on-air ideas.

After taking the Radio Broadcasting class, I fell in love with the field of radio. In that class I co-hosted a one-hour show with my friend and fellow student Marcel Bassett. Now, in addition to “We Need to Talk,” I also host my own show from 10 a.m. until noon on Fridays called “Noelle ’til Noon” which I began when I enrolled in Radio Practicum this semester.

For Danielle, Arielle, Rob and me, all of our hard work just paid off as we won the Philadelphia A.I.R Award for “Best College Radio News or Public Affairs Anchor or Host” on Nov. 5 of this year. Needless to say, we all felt an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and pride with this honor. We’ve learned that with a lot of effort and using our own unique skills, we can take the world by storm.

Three radio shows in two semesters and one major award; I can honestly say I have not heard of another college that gives such a terrific opportunity to their students. Many schools do not even allow their students to put their hands on communication equipment until junior year, but at Cabrini students are encouraged to hone their skills right away.

My favorite thing about being on the radio is that I can write up all the information I find interesting and broadcast it to people who want to hear it. Since I don’t like public speaking, this is a great way for me to get news out to the world. I also love working with people who have the same passion for radio as myself. WYBF definitely has the best of the bunch.